About a week after the Federal Government announced a N10bn lifeline to Lagos State Government for the battle against coronavirus, AnaMBRA state Governor, Wliie Obiano, has called for N1bn for the same purpose in his state.
Buhari gave the money to Lagos as it is the epic centre of the pandemic, having up to 68 of the 111 cases in Nigeria.
But in a statement signed by Anambra State Commissioner for Information, C-Don Adinuba, the Obiano said he needed the money urgently.
The statement reads in part:
“Governor Obiano, therefore, considers it imperative that the Federal Government provides at least N1bn to Anambra, which is at risk in view of the multitude of people in its numerous markets and the peripatetic nature of the people who have been helping in the rapid development of all parts of Nigeria.
“Besides, we have as many as 63 major markets in the state, including the Onitsha main market, which is the largest market in West Africa.
“The markets are always full of millions of people from different countries in West and Central Africa, thereby making our people vulnerable to the contagion.
“The Anambra State Government would like to use this opportunity to announce the creation of a special account to assist ndi Anambra grapple with the grave challenges of the coronavirus.
“Known as the Anambra State COVID- 19 account, it is in response to various inquiries from people of Anambra State origin in different parts of Nigeria and beyond who have been seeking ways to assist their people since the viral disease outbreak.”
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Sunday night confirmed 14 new cases of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria, with nine reported in Lagos State and five in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The NCDC, through its verified Twitter account, said that as at 9:30p.m, there were 111 confirmed cases of COVID19 pandemic reported in Nigeria with one death recorded.
It said “currently, Lagos has 68; Abuja- 21, Ogun– Three, Ekiti– one, Oyo– Seven, Osun- Two , Enugu– Two, Edo– Two, Bauchi-Two, while Benue, Kaduna and Rivers have one case respectively.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Lagos State still has the highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country with 68 cases.
The cases reported were from travellers who have just returned to the country.
“Other cases were from people who have come in contact with infected people,” NCDC said.
Also, the World Health Organisation (WHO), said “there are 3,956 confirmed COVID-19 cases across 46 countries on the African continent with a total of 248 recoveries and 111 deaths reported.”
Meanwhile, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director-General of NCDC, told NAN in Abuja, that the centre was working hard to expand its testing capacity for COVID19 pandemic in the country.
Ihekweazu said that currently there were six Molecular functional laboratories in the country with the capacity to test for COVID19 and the Lassa fever outbreak.
“We aim to scale up to 13 laboratories in the next three weeks. In progress are : Abakaliki, Maiduguri, Kano, Sokoto, Port-Harcourt, Jos and Kaduna State,” he said.
Ihekweazu noted that the laboratories would assist other response activities, thereby reducing the numbers of deaths.
The NCDC director-general said that the laboratories would also provide diagnostic support for a number of states in the country.
He noted that it would be critical to reducing turnaround time between identifying a suspected case and confirmation.
Ihekweazu, however, disclosed that no Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) kit for the COVID19 pandemic have been validated and approved for sale
